


Aay'han

by mxartbotboy



Category: The Mandalorian (LadyIrina AU), The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Force Magic, Grief, I'm stretching the rules don't come for me, Loss, M/M, Mini Snowtime Adventure, Mourning, past mcd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28271202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxartbotboy/pseuds/mxartbotboy
Summary: Glancing up, Din saw that the storm was already subsiding a bit, enough that he could see a scraggle of trees in the distance and–Bolting straight up, Din froze. There, shadowed in the gusting winds of snow, was undoubtedly a figure.~~A repair job has Din landing on a planet that brings up memories of things past. Turns out that what he'll find there will be more than just memories.
Relationships: Corin the Stormtrooper (Rescue and Regret)/Din Djarin, Din Djarin/Corin Valentis (LadyIrina)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 39





	Aay'han

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Family and Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21758992) by [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/pseuds/LadyIrina). 
  * Inspired by [Hidden and Revealed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23599798) by [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/pseuds/LadyIrina). 
  * Inspired by [Time To Say Goodbye](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28136529) by [LadyIrina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyIrina/pseuds/LadyIrina). 



> Welcome to what was originally supposed to be my version of a holiday fic. While there are no holidays mentioned, it does have that magical snowy melancholia type feeling that I have around this time every year, so in a way it feels appropriate.
> 
> Thank you to the ever lovely [mochaaaa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mochaaaa) for reading this over and bolstering my confidence in this work, enough that I felt good enough to post it. This work is a pretty big departure from what I usually write and I am ever grateful for my friends who keep me going in these trying times.
> 
> Enjoy!

_aay’han: bittersweet, perfect moment of mourning and joy (lit. "remembering and celebrating”)_

* * *

The RazorCrest shuddered as it entered the atmosphere, the viewport covered in a shroud of thick cloud. Din flicked a couple of switches, opening the fuel exhaust ports in preparation for landing. He ignored the flashing red light telling him the fuel lines were clogged and kept his eyes on the display, watching as the ship scanned the ground below for a landing site. As the ship descended, it rocked with a gust of wind that caught it, and as the cloud cover cleared, Din could see that it was a different kind of whiteout further down.

Snow. He hadn’t seen it since…

Focussing back on the display, Din retreated back into the walls of his mind, letting the autopilot of his body take over. The ship identified a clear landing spot and Din steered it over, gently easing the ship down. It thankfully landed without a problem, shifting slightly under what was surely snow-drifted ground and Din began the engine cool down process. Once the rumble of the ship quieted, it was easier to hear the soft snores of the kid sleeping in his bassinet behind Din, along with the whistling of the wind as it tore around the ship. The storm seemed pretty bad, and for a number of reasons Din wished it had been any other kind of planet he had landed on. It would be unpleasant to flush the fuel lines, at the very least.

With a sigh, Din leaned back in his seat and swivelled around. The kid was shifting in his bassinet; he had probably sensed the landing and would be waking up soon. And he would be hungry.

Din pushed himself to his feet and made his way out of the cockpit down to the cargo hold. Digging around in the the storage locker, he pulled out a ration bar for himself and a few large chunks of jerky for the kid. It wasn’t gourmet but it was better than nothing. Din didn’t do a lot of cooking these days anyways, of which the kid had silently succumbed to.

When he returned to the cockpit, he could hear the sounds of the kid rousing, some quiet chirps followed by a high pitched yawn that made Din smile. He circled around the bassinet to to pair of big eyes staring up at him. The kid smacked his lips together and held out an expectant hand. Sitting back down in the pilot’s seat, Din held a piece of jerky out, which the kid took and immediately began chewing on.

It had been Corin’s idea to get jerky for the kid. While he ate anything and everything he could get his little hands on, he seemed to enjoying taking time gnawing on the jerky, in turn giving Din and Corin time to eat before he was complaining about more food again. The thought had crossed Din’s mind before he could stop it and he stared down at the half-opened ration bar in his hands. Suddenly, he wasn’t very hungry.

It took a while for the kid to make his way through the jerky that Din had brought up, but he was glad to sit there and slowly feed the kid piece after piece and watch, listening to the sounds of the storm outside. He would have to wait for it to pass before he could go out and flush the lines anyways. If it did pass; some planets had storms that lasted days, or even years. Din would wait, even for just a bit on the off chance he wouldn’t have to bundle up and brave the snow.

The kid finally swallowed down the last of his jerky and made a contented burp, snuggling back into the blankets with sleepy eyes. Din leaned forward and tucked the blankets around him, “ _Tion’yaihi’l adi’ka_?”

Giving a faint squeak in response, the kid curled a hand over the edge of the blanket and tugged it up around his chin, one of his ears twitching. Din ran a hand gently over his head, running a thumb through the fuzz before sitting up and glancing over his shoulder.

He could barely see out the viewport save for the barrage of snowflakes being whipped at the tranparisteel, scattering across the pane in swirls and circles that were impossible to follow. It did seem to be getting darker from what Din could tell. The kid had the right idea with going back to sleep. Din turned when the kid made a questioning noise. He was still tucked away in the blankets, but he had pulled his eyes open and was blinking expectantly up at Din, as if waiting for something. Din gave a soft chuckle, lacing his fingers across his stomach as he settled back in his seat, “Alright, kid.”

Tipping his head up, Din allowed himself to close his eyes. He took in a breath, and on the exhale began humming lowly, the tune gradually finding itself as it grew:

_O’r ca ni laarar gar bah nuhor_   
_Novor gar sur’haaise verd’ika_   
_Par vercopase be’kote cuy nu chaaj’yc_   
_Jaon gar ni ja’hail akay tran’lamot_

Din continued the lullaby, opening his eyes again to see that the kid was drifting off, his mouth hanging open just the tiniest bit as his breathing evened out. Din swivelled his seat around and began putting the ship in lockdown mode in preparation to sleep. His singing grew quieter, singing it more to himself than to the kid, the familiar tune feeling comfortable and sad at the same time. Glancing up, Din saw that the storm was already subsiding a bit, enough that he could see a scraggle of trees in the distance and–

Bolting straight up, Din froze. There, shadowed in the gusting winds of snow, was undoubtedly a figure. It didn’t seem to be moving, but it was hard to tell through the weather. Standing, Din quickly made his way down to the cargo hold, opening up the back ramp and pulling out his blaster. If someone was here to make trouble, he’d rather confront them head on than let them get the upper hand by waiting for them to make the first move. Stepping outside, Din’s boots crunched in the deep, heavy snow, and the wind whipped at the end of his cloak. Din closed the ramp up behind him and locked it, turning on the heat sensor in his visor. Icy blues swirled in front of his vision, but not a single heat signature. Din turned his head, one way and then the other as he slowly circled the RazorCrest, his blaster held up at the ready. Still, nothing.

Din stopped at the front of the ship, staring out in the direction that he was sure he saw someone. The wind had died down and now it was just a thick flurry slowing floating down around Din. He turned off his heat vision, blinking into the sudden bright white. The outline of the trees in the distance were still visible, but as far as Din could see, he was alone.

Feeling uneasy, Din made his way back to the ramp and inside the ship. Either Din really had just been seeing things, or there was someone out there watching them who didn’t want the same done to them. And Din didn’t just see things.

Doubling checking that the ramp behind him was closed and that the RazorCrest was set into lockdown, Din paused to stare at his outstretched hand. He had reached out to type the lockdown code into the door panel and his attention had been drawn to the speckling layer of snowflakes dusting his sleeve. It ran all the way up his arm and Din realized that he must be covered. Taking a step back, a small flurry went shooting around him, snow sliding off the top of his helmet and swinging off of his cloak.

And suddenly, Din wasn’t on the RazorCrest anymore. A memory, bright and sharp as day, played in his mind, of an early evening standing outside a cabin on a planet far from here. Corin stood in front of him, arms outstretched and face turned to the sky, with the biggest most beautiful smile Din had ever seen, snow covering his hair and shoulders. Then it quickly morphed into Corin’s face up close, shining blue eyes fluttering as his forehead was pressed against Din’s.

_I love you too, I love you too, I love you too…_

Din couldn’t breathe. In a panicked rush, he yanked off his helmet, sucking in a harsh breath of cool air that hadn’t yet been warmed by the ship’s temperature systems. Clutching the beskar between his hands, Din stared down at his own reflection, warped by the curve of the helmet. It stared back at him, eyes wide and mouth open, before it grew blurry. Something hot streaked down Din’s cheek and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Corin would have loved it here. A half choked out sob crawled its way out of Din’s throat, leaving him breathless again, and he tucked his helmet under his arm so he could drag his hand across his face, wiping the tears away.

No.

Drawing in another steadying breath, Din sniffed and then slipped his helmet back on. The feel of its weight on him was grounding, and he blinked a few times, straightening. It had been over a year now since the accident and Din was tired of breaking down like that. On the third breath in, Din pushed the memory far down, back into the corner of his heart he didn’t look anymore and locked it away. Not right now.

The way back up to the cockpit was slow; it had been twenty-one hours since Din had slept and while he didn’t feel like it in the least in that moment, he knew that he should if he wanted repairs to be quick and efficient. He scooped the kid up, who barely shifted in the disturbance, and carried him back down to the alcove, tucking him away into the sling that hung from the ceiling. Crawling in himself, Din closed the door, and in the darkness, set an alarm for five hours from then. It probably wasn’t enough, but it was all Din could spare for now.

Tucking an arm under his head, Din closed his eyes. He hoped that he wouldn’t dream of anything but instead he dreamt of snowflakes and the colour blue.

* * *

“Hey, don’t go too far,” Din warned, unplugging one of the fuel lines. A few metres away, the kid chirped, kicking at some of the snow and giggling when it shot up in a burst around him. He watched over his shoulder for a moment as the kid lifted a hand and swayed it from side to side, causing the falling snow to swish in a parallel pattern.

The snowfall had completely subsided by the time Din woke, leave an even clouded sky and crisp air. A large cliff face rose up on one side of the ship and now that it wasn’t snowing anymore, Din could see a fair number more of trees in the distance, maybe a forest of some kind. There was still no sign of anyone around the ship, and Din had even taken the precaution of scanning the surrounding area with the ship’s sensors for signs of life. The scans had come back negative, which was the only reason he had the kid out playing while he worked. He hated leaving the kid behind in the ship whenever they travelled now. Only in recent months had the kid even begun to act like himself again, but he would always be particularly quiet and withdrawn after extended periods alone in the ship, so Din made an extra point in taking him out whenever he could.

Turning back to the fuel line, Din reached over and pressed the flush button, careful to hold the end out away from him. The line gurgled, sputtered, and then a steaming pile of gunk came flooding out, splashing onto the snow and melting it down to the dirt underneath. Shaking out the end, Din pressed the flush button one more time to ensure that it was empty, before dropping it to the ground.

That’s when he heard it. _Din_. Din whipped his head up with a jump, heart pounding at the sudden sound of a voice. What he saw instead was the kid heading straight off into the plain of snow, a little trail being left behind him as he made his way forward.

“Kid!” Din jogged towards him, trying to catch up to the little one who was making good headway, “Hey, kid, come back!” Just as Din reached the kid, a gust of wind swept up, causing Din to throw up his arm at the barrage of snow swirling around them. He reached out frantically, trying to feel for the kid, until he saw it, just a bit ahead through the snow. A figure.

Din whipped out his blaster and pointed it, staggering at the force of the wind against him, and shouted, “Who are you!? What do you want!?”

The wind died like a candle being blown out, the snow dropping around Din and settling in drifts at his feet. In front of him, the kid stared out contemplatively towards the forest, seemingly unperturbed by the sudden windstorm. Din hesitated, glancing around. There were no sign of anyone and when he scanned the ground ahead of him, there weren’t even any footprints.

Holstering his blaster, Din stepped forward and picked the kid up, who gave a thoughtful burble. He turned back to the ship, unnerved by the stillness in the wake of whatever that had been. Better to get off this planet sooner rather than later, Din thought to himself as he deposited the kid next to the ship and returned to his work.

It took him the rest of the day to clear the fuel lines, flushing them and then scrubbing them out to get rid of most of the build up. The weather held out, with no more surprise wind, and the kid stayed close to the ship, although he spent a lot of his time sitting in the snow staring out at the horizon, as if there was something there he could see that was invisible to Din. Thankfully, it wasn’t too cold, and the kid did just fine with one break to eat inside the ship and warm the tips of his ears before going back out.

With a sigh, Din plugged the last fuel line back into place and then lifted the access panel to cover the side of the ship again. The kid made a small noise, wandering up to Din’s feet as he bolted the panel back into place. “Yeah, yeah,” Din said, “I’m almost done.” The kid held his hands up when Din turned to him and Din picked him up, tucking him into the corner of his elbow, “Let’s head back in.” Shifting in his arms to crawl up to his shoulder, the kid peered off behind Din as he walked around to the ramp, chirping as it lowered and they walked back up into the ship.

“We’ll head out soon.” Exhaustion pulled at the corners of Din’s eyes and he had to suppress a yawn as he set the kid down on one of the crates he’d put out for them to eat at. He could use some more sleep. The kid was hungry though and he pulled out some more jerky, letting the kid chew on it as he tugged off his cloak and hung it up to dry, along with his gloves. While it hadn’t snowed again, the bottom of his cloak was soaked, and it was already dripping a puddle onto the floor. It took him a couple tries to get it hung over the storage locker properly, and he realized he must be more tired than he thought.

Behind him, the kid was blinking slowly, a piece of jerky hanging out of his mouth. With a small smile, Din walked over and picked him up, pulling the jerky out of his mouth. “Sleepy too, huh?” There hadn’t been any more strange encounters and while it still made Din nervous to spend any more time on this planet than they had to, he also wondered if it _wasn’t_ the case that maybe he was just imagining things in his sleep-addled brain. The kid had been less than bothered the whole time they were here and he tended to have a sensibility about those sorts of things. Deciding that the risk was worth it, Din climbed into the alcove again. This time, he didn’t set an alarm.

* * *

It was a cold gust of wind that woke Din up. Somehow, it managed to slip beneath his beskar and penetrate his under armour, licking like ice on his skin. Blinking blearily, Din lifted his head and then bolted up. The door to the alcove was open and a quick glance revealed that the kid’s hammock was empty. Panic rising up in his throat, Din shoved his way out of the alcove and the panic only worsened when he saw the ramp to the RazorCrest was open. Snow swirled in and had begun to carpet the ramp; it had been open for a little while at least. Cursing himself and his need to sleep, Din grabbed his cloak and rifle and started down the ramp, calling out frantically, “Kid? Kid where are you?”

It was dark outside, the light from the inside of the Crest spilling out across freshly fallen snow. Din glanced left and then right, trying to see if there were any footprints left behind, but the snow had obscured any remnants of where the kid might have gone. Even a scan with his sensors brought up nothing and for a moment, Din found himself rooted to the spot, cloak tussling in the wind, so frantic he felt like his body was vibrating. Then instinct took over and he started forward, circling around the ship. The kid would have made a fuss if someone had tried to take him, and the ship had been in lockdown mode anyways. It was much more likely that he kid had wandered off somewhere, and if Din could just see what maybe the kid had seen, then…

There. In the side of the cliff face was an opening to what looked like a small cave, the inside illuminated by a faint glow. Din didn’t have more than his gut to go on, but in this moment, he trusted it. He started forward through the snow, slinging his rifle over his back. The wind wasn’t strong, but it was enough that it would blow up puffs of snow around his legs every few feet. It was much colder than it had been during the day and Din hoped there was at least warmth in the cave for the kid.

The opening was maybe twice as tall as Din, and a strange quiet enveloped him as he stepped through it. Surprisingly, not much snow came through the mouth, conveniently swirling away from it with every gust of wind. Din didn’t pause though, continuing forward deeper into the cave. It quickly became apparent what the cause of the glow was; embedded in the walls and the ceiling were tiny crystals that flickered like cold flames. They were scattered sparsely at first, but as Din went on, they filled the rock more and more until it was like a bright galaxy. He could almost feel a hum coming from them and his visor was picking up some kind of low level, non-harmful radiation from them.

Din stopped. There was a bend in the tunnel a few meters ahead, and a much brighter glow was splashed against the wall, with a blurry shadow fluttering across it. Silently, Din unholstered his blaster before creeping forward until he could peer around the bend. When he saw the source of the light, and who was sitting in front of his, he sighed and slipped his blaster away, starting forward.

It was a large, tall cavern, the walls filled to the brim with sparkling crystals. The hum was almost audible now, ringing lowly through Din’s audial, and it seemed to be coming from the centre of the cavern where a crystal as large as one of the Crest’s engines sat, illuminating nearly the whole cavern with its light. And sitting on a small rock in front of it was a familiar little figure, staring up. The whole sight would have been breathtaking if Din wasn’t so relieved to find the kid and eager to get back to the ship.

“ _Ad’ika_ ,” he called out, walking up to the rock, “You can’t just wander off like that.”

The kid turned, blinking up at Din and giving a soft coo. Din crouched down next to him, placing his hand on the kid’s little back, “I know it’s pretty but we have to go.” The kid gestured towards the crystal, making another noise and twitching his ears inquisitively. Din shook his head, “No, we can’t stay here, kid.”

“He’s not looking at the crystal.”

In a flurry, Din whipped out his pistol again and spun around in the direction of the voice. His breathed echoed loudly in his ears and his eyes flitted around the cavern, searching for the speaker. Even in the shadows being cast along the walls, there was nothing there. Din frowned. The voice had been familiar, too familiar…

“He’s looking at me.” A figure stepped around from behind the crystal and Din’s heart stopped. For a moment, nothing moved. Din didn’t move. His entire body had frozen, the pistol still lifted and aimed. A different kind of hum filled his mind, nearly overpowering his senses as he tried to process what he was seeing. It couldn’t be, it just couldn’t.

Corin gave a soft smile, “Hello Din.” Except, it wasn’t Corin, not quite. Like the crystal, he was glowing, though not nearly as strong. It was like a gentle light emanating from his skin, framing his body in a pale blue that was only accentuated by his eyes.

Din tried to swallow and found that his mouth had gone dry. A pulse ran through his body, snapping him into focus, and he firmed his grip of the pistol, “Who are you?”

Gaze dropping to behind him, Corin gave a shrug, “See, I told you he wouldn’t believe it.”

The kid chirped and grabbed at the end of Din’s cloak, giving it a sharp tug. Din glanced down and then back up at the would-be Corin, shifting on his feet. Usually the kid was a pretty good judge of character and his lack of concern was enough to tell Din that whatever stood before them wasn’t malicious. Still, keeping his blaster lifted, Din reached down and scooped up the kid, holding him close to his chest.

Taking a step closer, the would-be Corin tilted his head at the pistol, “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I’m not afraid of those who take the faces of the dead,” Din snapped, hugging the child closer, “Answer me; who are you?”

“I’m Corin.” There was a sadness in those blue eyes, enough that it almost had Din convinced, “At least, the collected energy that _was_ Corin.”

“Impossible. Corin’s been…” _Dead_. Even now, Din couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. His hand wavered just the slightest and he gritted his teeth, “Try again.”

“I’m telling the truth.” Would-be Corin lifted his hand up to gesture at the cavern, “This place is incredibly strong with the Living Force. And _ad’ika_ was able to call to me here. He helped me into this material form.” Almost as if in agreement, the kid squeaked and waved his hands around, reaching towards Corin.

Easing up from his ready stance, Din hesitated, and then let his hand drop to his side. He had certainly seen some unbelievable things from the kid, and from the magic that was the Force. But this? This was on the far end of the scale. A sort of numbness was seeping through him, and he was trying to ignore the creeping and terribly hopeful thought that maybe, just maybe, this could be Corin. Or some kind of ghost of Corin.

Din didn’t believe in ghosts, but he could believe in Corin.

Corin smiled again, “It’s good to see you, Din.”

Din shook his head, “No, it can’t, I can’t…” Corin took another step forward and Din felt himself jerk back instinctively. The kid cooed and looked up at him, resting a hand on his arm. He had managed to find the soft spot on his elbow, and the touch was grounding, enough that he could focus on the glowing figure before him.

“If you’re Corin, when was the last time you saw my face?”

The smile disappeared, replaced by a look that shot straight through Din’s heart. “I never got to see your face,” Corin said softly, his eyes flitting to the ground. That did it for Din. Maybe it wasn’t enough to convince others, but in that moment suddenly Din knew. With a choked noise, Din stumbled forward, reaching out towards Corin. His hand merely passed through him though, swirling like fog around his wrist until he pulled it back, breathing hard.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed out, “I’m sorry, Corin, I’m sorry I couldn’t–”

“Din.” Corin shook his head, “Don’t apologize. It wasn’t you fault.”

“But if I had just flown the ship–”

“It was an accident. We’d crash landed dozens of times, there was no way to know.” Corin’s form quivered for a moment, as if a breeze was disturbing a cloud and he glanced up to some unknown thing, his eyebrows tensing, “I don’t have much longer.”

“Wait.” Din holstered his blaster, heart thudding in his chest, “Just, wait.” He felt the kid’s fingers wrap gently into the folds his shirt and he took in a deep breath, before lifting his hand to the bottom of his helmet. His fingers curled around the edge, holding there. Somehow it felt heavier than it had in a long time.

Corin moved forward, tilting his head; he looked fainter than he had a moment ago, the glow from under his skin beginning to fade. “Din, you don’t have to,” he said softly. This close, Din could see the details of his face; the curve of his eyelashes and the way his hair fell across his forehead. The aching blue of his eyes, made bluer by the quickly dimming glow. It was like he was almost there and it was everything Din could do to not reach out again.

“I want to,” Din breathed out. Maker, he had never wanted something so badly in his entire life. He remembered weeping over Corin’s body, helmet discarded by his side in the cargo hold of the Crest, and it hadn’t been enough then. Maybe it wouldn’t be enough now but… Slowly, Din pulled the helmet off, the cool air snapping across his cheeks and his breath puffing out in front of him. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the brightness of the crystal’s light and the brilliance of Corin, no longer dampened by the tint of his visor.

And then Corin smiled and it was like he was there, really there. It was his most genuine smile, the one Din had treasured every time he’d seen it. The smile of a man turning his face to the sky as it snowed and telling Din he loved him. It almost made Corin shine brighter again, even just for a moment, and Din felt his own smile bloom across his face even as his vision grew slightly blurred.

“Beautiful,” Corin said. The kid chirped brightly, waving a hand in the air and Corin’s gaze dropped down, still smiling, “He agrees with me.”

Din looked down, face wet, and hugged the kid a bit closer. It wasn’t the first time he had taken the helmet off in front of him, but the kid was staring up happily, reaching up to brush the underside of Din’s chin with his tiny hand. Din’s eyes fluttered for a moment, blinking the tears away.

“You were always the beautiful one,” Din replied, looking back up. A flash of panic ran through him when he saw that Corin had faded even more and his face dropped. It hadn’t been nearly long enough.

“I know, I’m sorry.” Could Corin read his thoughts? Corin laughed at Din’s expression and shook his head, “Without the helmet, you’re like an open book.” His hand lifted and he trailed wispy fingers along the length of Din’s arm. Din felt nothing but he shivered anyways, remembering what it was like when Corin touched him. Corin flickered and he withdrew his hand, “I have to go now.”

“I love you.” Din’s words shook, and he swallowed, trying not to let them get stuck in his throat.

“I love you too.” Corin smiled again, smaller but just as bright, “Thank you for showing me.”

Before Din could respond, Corin went out like a candle flame, shrinking down and disappearing with a silent puff. Din blinked, staring ahead, expecting the grief to fill him again. He took in one breath, and then another, and waited. The kid squirmed in his arms and Din gently let him down, watching as he tottered to the base of the crystal and placed a hand on it, staring up. Then he looked over his shoulder at Din and cooed.

“I know, _ad’ika_ ,” Din said. He closed his eyes and for the first time found that he wasn’t pretending the cold air was somewhere else, somewhere far away and a long time ago. Something settled deep in his chest and when he opened his eyes, he saw the kid waddling over with his arms lifted. Wiping his cheeks with gloved fingers, Din slipped his helmet back on and picked up the kid, regarding the crystal one last time before turning.

“Let’s go,” Din said, tugging the collar of the kid’s robe a bit closer to his chin, “It’s late for you.”

The snow was falling slowly when he exited the cave, the wind having died down completely. In the darkness, it really was almost like that night with Corin, and mixed in with the accompanying sadness of that memory was a flicker of light, the happiness he used to have when he thought of it. The kid had curled up in his arms and he heard a little snore waft up, the little body shifting slightly in his hold. And Din paused for a moment, looking up into the night sky. It was cloudy and dark, but he could imagine each snowflake was a star drifting down, a sort of night sky all around him.

For the rest of the walk back to the ship, Din hummed quietly to himself, half singing the words into the crisp night air:

_O’r ca ni laarar gar bah nuhor_   
_Novor gar sur’haaise verd’ika_   
_Par vercopase be’kote cuy nu chaaj’yc_   
_Jaon gar ni ja’hail akay tran’lamot_

**FIN**

* * *

Translations:

_Tion’yaihi’l adi’ka?_ \- Full, little one?

_O’r ca ni laarar gar bah nuhor_   
_Novor gar sur’haaise verd’ika_   
_Par vercopase be’kote cuy nu chaaj’yc_   
_Jaon gar ni ja’hail akay tran’lamot_

In the night I sing you to sleep  
Close your eyes, little warrior  
For dreams of glory are not far away  
Over you I watch until the dawn

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at [mxartbotboy](https://mxartbotboy.tumblr.com), come say hello!


End file.
